Archived: Marland Court

Updated 17 January 2025

This assessment began on 30 January 2025 and was concluded 20 February 2025. We visited Marland Court on 30 January and 5 February 2025, and contacted relatives, staff and professionals for feedback after visiting the home. Marland Court provides accommodation and support to up to 24 older and younger people living with complex needs, including dementia and mental health conditions. At the time of our assessment there were 17 people living at the home.

The inspection was prompted in part due to information of concerns received in relation to the management of the service, staffing arrangements and support provided. This assessment examined those concerns.

We looked at 24 quality statements. There had been no registered manager at the home since November 2023. A manager was in post and told us they had started their application to register with CQC, however we found no record of this.

The manager of the home was supported by the regional manager, but we were not assured the manager had sufficient support and guidance to maintain appropriate oversight of the day to day running of the service.

Electronic care plans and risk assessments were not sufficiently detailed to guide and support staff. The provider’s approach to risk was poor. Generic risks had been covered but specific risks posed to people had not.

People’s prescribed medicines were managed and administered safely. Staff continued to work with relevant agencies and supported people in meeting their healthcare needs.

A number of staff had left the service in the months before this assessment. The provider relied heavily on staff recruited from overseas. The provider was undertaking supervision sessions with staff. We saw staff had requested additional training to better meet people’s complex needs, but this had not been explored or arranged. Although a programme of staff training and support was in place, staff required further knowledge and skills around dementia, mental health, end of life care, consent and capacity.

Servicing and checks of the home and equipment had been completed. Works had been completed to enhance the standard of accommodation provided and this was on-going. There were plans to develop the outside area of the home to make this more secure.

We identified 4 breaches in regulations, relating to safe care and treatment, person-centred care, the need for consent and good governance. Aspects of governance required strengthening; processes to analyse and learn lessons needed to be embedded, to ensure the service was compliant with legal regulations. Managers were working with the local authority at the time of this assessment to implement identified improvements.

Updated 17 January 2025

We spoke with 4 people who use the service and received mixed views about the service. People said the staff were ok and nice; people felt able to speak with them. One person told us, “Things have improved slightly.” There were few activities and opportunities for people, both in and away from the home. People’s individual preferences had not been explored and were not detailed within care plans.

We observed some nice interactions between people and the staff during our visits. We also saw a members of staff try and encourage people to join in with an entertainer on site on our second day.

People spoke positively about the food on offer, although 1 person told us they had not been able to access food during the night. We did not see that people were involved in suggesting different foods they wanted to try, or meals they wanted to see on the menu.

Meetings were held where people could discuss any issues or ideas. We saw people had made suggestions or complaints in these meetings, for example about missing laundry, but it wasn’t clear what actions had been taken by the service, as these weren’t documented.